The Illawarra and South Coast’s most read crime stories of 2021
A violent Valentine, someone involved in a jail fight, and a “selfish” Covidiot, these are some of the best read crime stories from the Illawarra and South Coast that captured your attention this year.
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It’s been another busy year for police in the Illawarra with Covidiots, violence and drugs again playing out in court rooms across the region.
Here are the most read five crime stories you read in 2021.
The maskless muppet
“Selfish” and ”thoughtless” Daniel Kennedy had the book thrown at him after an ”utterly disgraceful” maskless trip to Wollongong Woolies while Covid positive.
The 22-year-old Wollongong man lied to police about his name and date of birth before admitting to his dumb behaviour.
Kennedy was jailed for 21 days for failing to comply with self-isolation directives and fined $1000 for not wearing a mask.
The creepy DJ
It took nearly four years but in March, Illawarra DJ Remzi Bektasovski was found guilty of raping a teen girl in his family’s laundry after agreeing to help her with an IT issue.
The victim spoke of her mental trauma from the sexual assault where after Bektasovski said “I knew you would enjoy it if I force you”.
Bektasovski was sentenced to five years and six months in prison.
He will be eligible for release to parole in May 2024.
The prison punch up
Locked up for violent crimes against a disabled woman, Matthew Leuthwaite found himself in deeper trouble after being labelled a “pest” behind bars.
Leuthwaite, who was serving time for kidnapping and torturing a young disabled woman, before throwing her off a bridge in northwest Sydney, lured his victim into the bathroom of the jail before punching him to the ground and kicking him in the face.
The 24-year-old was charged with assault occasioning in actual bodily harm and was sentenced to a non-parole period of seven years and six months for the crime.
A tad too many tablets
In October, Culburra Beach couple Michael Hill and Lauren Burnett learned their fate for illegally collecting more than 1000 pills across the Shoalhaven.
Hill and his runway model missus juked pharmacies from Nowra to Culburra Beach to collect their stash which included 540 Endone tablets.
The Vogue cover model pleaded guilty to eight charges of assisting and abetting an offence to obtain prohibited drugs and nine charges of obtaining a prohibited drug by false representation, while Burnett, a former teacher, admitted to 10 charges of obtaining a prohibited drug by false representation.
Both were sentenced to a two-year conditional release order starting on October 6, 2021, without conviction
The pair cannot commit any offence while subject to the order, or could be resentenced for the offences.
A vicious Valentine
Nowra woman Gemma Graham drove her unregistered Hyundai hatchback at her on-again off-again girlfriend during a fight on Valentine’s Day.
The 32-year-old was collecting her kids from the victim’s house before the stoush broke out with Graham hitting her now ex-partner in an incident Magistrate Lisa Viney said “could have caused a death”.
Graham was charged with driving dangerously and driving an uninsured and unregistered car, however, her “deep remorse” led to the magistrate not recording a conviction for the reckless driving charge, instead placing her on an 18-month conditional release order.
Graham was fined $800 for driving uninsured and unlicensed.
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